Family’s torment over burial of tragic murder victim John Grainger

THE victim of a brutal murder was buried alongside his mother in her Duke Street grave in an emotional service on Friday.

The decapitated body of John Grainger, 32, was found by firefighters after a blaze in his home town of Stockport in January.

Speaking to the Visiter, his family spoke of their grief – and torment over the "insensitive" cost of burying him with his mother.

Mr Grainger's body was discovered by firefighters after a street fire in the early hours of January 26. A post mortem investigation revealed Mr Grainger died from a blunt force head injury and a “shotgun wound to the head” with police believing he was decapitated after he was shot. Two men have been charged with his murder.

Desperate for closure and grief-stricken over the loss of a "cheeky and loveable character", Mr Grainger's family were eager to bury him in Southport, where his mother was born and bred.

But they were horrified to find they would be charged hundreds of pounds extra for his burial because he lived outside Southport. His sister, Pippa Asquith, described her reaction when Sefton Council informed them of the extra £450 charge.

Mrs Asquith said: “We were absolutely mortified because it was costing over £3,000 already and that was just for a basic funeral with nothing fancy. It's ridiculous having to find that amount of money to bury a body and it is the last thing we wanted to think about.”

Mr Grainger was very close to his mother, Merle Grainger, and visited her grave regularly. As a result the family were desperate for him to be buried with her.

Mrs Asquith said: “My mum always wanted to be buried in Southport because that's where she was brought up. I just thought it was ridiculous really because we were wondering where we were going to find the money in the first place, especially when we have got family in Southport.

“It seems a bit insensitive, it's bad enough when your brother has been brutally murdered... we just wanted to lay him to rest and start to try to come to terms with it.”

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “Situations like these are always difficult because of the emotions involved but we do our very best to ensure that people are treated with the greatest of sympathy and respect. However, like most local authorities across the country, we operate a different pricing structure for Sefton residents and non Sefton residents for burials.”

John Pugh MP has written to the council asking for an exception to be made. A spokesperson said: “We have asked for an exception to be made due to the tragic circumstances and the fact that the family are not requesting an extra grave.”